1.   Bruce Tality - intro please - who are ye, where does thout spring from, what is your musical history to date?

Hi, I'm Bruce Tality, I'm a singer/songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player, and I hail from Lincoln. Had the usual background of playing in various punk and hardcore bands over the years, then struck out on my own as a solo artist and haven't looked back for the past 5, nearly 6 years now!

2.   The reasoning behind a one man show mate - all the pressure is on one lot of shoulders, why, why, why!

Well after getting kicked out of the last band I was in, I still had the fire inside of me to want to perform! But without the band I really had no choice but to go it alone! A good few years later and I'm still plugging away at it! Yeah it can be a lot of pressure sometimes, but I've never looked back really. The pros outweigh the cons if ya like. I have complete creative control, I never have to turn down a gig coz the drummer’s cousins getting married that day, and I can never split up because of "musical differences" lol. Of course, if I have a bad show I've no one to blame but myself. But then if I have a good one, the rewards are all mine too.

3.  What would be your 'mission statement' be if you had one - just a line or so summing up your acoustic aims!

If I was to have a mission statement I guess it would just be to play my heart out at every show. Try to be myself within my songs and performance on stage, and to just keep on keeping on. 

A few years ago when I was looking for a bit of guidance I asked a fellow punk solo artist for some advice, and he said "Just stick with it for 30 years, and hope someone notices". So that’s pretty much what I intend to do really.

4.  As always let us know about your song writing process - from initial thought to final concoction - throw in your influences please!

The song writing always starts with the idea. The subject of the song. I can't write those stream of consciousness Dylan-esque songs. The strongest songs I have seem to be the ones about unity,  being yourself, positive stuff like that. I have a new one called "Punk Rock Family" that I've played at my last few shows. Once I've got the idea the lyrics tend to just come streaming out. Not necessarily in any kind of verse/bridge/chorus format but I just try and write them down as they come, then worry about the structure later. I've always got a few guitar chords floating about, or a harp lick or something that can be adapted, so its just a matter of melding the two together.

As far as influences on my song writing go it’s everyone from the "beat poets" like Alan Ginsberg and Kerouac, the folkies like Woody Guthrie and Dylan. The country guys like Hank Williams and Willie Nelson and then obviously punks like Joe Strummer, Charlie Harper, Dee Dee Ramone. So the classic guys throughout the decades really.

5.   As part of his on-going therapy for Scarecrow Addiction Eagle Spits has been requested to spend 6 months of his life living inside the hollow bits of a Rice Krispie.  You may be shocked but believe me I have hard evidence this treatment works.  Dr King Kong Kellogg knows his stuff and insists people go through the full process to get complete benefits!  Now then the question is threefold - a/  Who is the hardest Rice Krispie character - Snap, Crackle or Pop  b/Would you have an affair with the Cocoa Pops Monkey - if so would you also indulge in settling down and having a family c/   If I gave you £50 and 2 pot noodles would you travel to the Land of Clit to capture the mythical chicken from the Cornflakes box - it exists tha' knows - Eagle has 'been there' if you get my drift - cock a doodle doo!

a. Well, I know that Dunk the Skinhead Wheatabix man from the 80's could kick the ass of Snap, Crackle, and Pop all at the same time.

As far as having an affair with the Coco Pops monkey goes, I'm already in a relationship with someone that eats more Coco Pops than is healthy for you, so I kinda feel like I already am!

Would I travel to the land of Clit for £50 and two Pot Noodles? Well without going into too much detail, it’s been a while since I've visited, so yeah sure why not!

6.   The best and worst gigs you have fiddled in my man - and yer pains and pleasures regarding the music scene?

Best gig I'd have to say would be Strummercamp 2012. I was lucky enough to play on the Friday night in the clubhouse at Manchester Rugby Club and just had the best time! Met some of the nicest folks ever. All ages from about 12 years old through to first wave punks kinda age group and got a few folks singin' along.

I don't really want to say I've had any bad shows, just ones that are more difficult. Sometimes if people are just there to drink, or see the headliners or their mates or somethin' it's much harder to engage them. I want to get peoples attention, but include them as much as possible too so it's a two way thing and their involved, but sometimes their just not havin' it lol.

7.  Politics - in or out of the noise - what do ya reckon.  Everything is indeed political but do we need to harp on within our rhythmic riots?

I personally only write about my own politics. The politics within my experience or within the "scene" if ya like, but only coz that’s all I know really. I don't feel qualified to write about governmental politics, but that’s just me. I have no problem with other people doing it. If that’s what they feel strongly about then that’s fine. It definitely has a place in music, the protest singers of the 60's and people like Woody that I mentioned earlier all wrote about the politics of the time, so its a big part of the music I love, its just that its not top of my agenda. Saying that, I do have a song called "Song Of Unity" that is basically about all the different factions of our scene i.e. Punks, Skins, Goths and Metal Heads joining forces to overthrow the government so....!

8.   Gobald Garnish is a very wayward chap, a soul obsessed with parakeet filth and feather pillow dabblings.  He is currently looking to live on the tongue of a Toucan for 18 and a half weeks so as to promote the wobbly knockers of Uretha O Clunge - the left wing chisel maestro who wants freedom for all carpentry tools.  Would you like to join him and if you could be a carpentry tool which one would you be and...why?

Yeah sure I'm down with Garnish! I'm all for promoting any kind of wobbly knockers as they provide nourishment for us all as wee babies!

As far as what kind of carpentry tool I'd be I'd have to say a chisel. It can be used to cut things clean in half, but also to carve beautiful patterns and images into wood. One tool that can be used to great effect destructively or creatively. I like the idea of that.

9.   The good and bad and downright ugly within thy local patch - reveal all!

If you mean the good things and bad things in the Lincoln music scene then I'm afraid I'm not really the person to ask! Lincoln seems to go in three or four year cycles of ups and downs. Although there are some people really trying to put on good shows like the guys from Crash Doubt, even they would have to admit its not what it used to be. I only really play in Lincoln about once a year! But say five years back you'd be playing almost once a month alongside some class bands from the U.K. or even further afield.

Some of it has to do with some of the younger bands that are coming up from Lincoln getting to that age where they all go off to Uni etc. They start getting good and getting a rep, then they all get split up coz they go off to do courses in different parts of the country. Then there's the whole recession/economy thing with a lot of venues closing, but I'm sure that’s a factor wherever you live these days!

On the plus side Lincoln does have some good open mic nights in places like the Brewer so people can showcase themselves, and try out new stuff pretty much any day of the week somewhere in town, and there are a few festivals too. Crash Doubt Fest seems to be an annual thing now, and there’s an awesome little May bank holiday Skabilly Punk Fest at the Jolly Brewer this year with the likes of T.V. Smith, Goldblade and a whole load of local folk like The Mighty Kahunas, and yours truly of course. So it ain't all bad.

There’s people trying pretty hard in Grimsby right now too! North east Lincolnshire. Anarchy Promotions are putting on The Meteors, and I think GBH soon too. So that’s pretty cool, and its just down the road from me. They got a really nice little punk scene there. Really nice people, and the promoters that have put bands on in the past like Sue and Andy, and Ross who's doing stuff now are willing to put it on the line to make things happen so much love to them!

10.  What do you feel about the fracturing of the punk scene and the way in which people stick to one sub-genre rather than cross over and taste all flavours?

I'm not sure if that is the case really. I've played plenty of shows with Ska bands, first gen style bands and hardcore all on the same bill, and that's just on one night!  Plus if you look at something on a bigger scale like Rebellion, this year you have the young folky type punk bands like Roughneck Riot, then Misfits, then Chas & Dave! I'll be down the front for all of them!  There seems to be more and more people doing the solo thing coming through now too like Louise Distras and Wayne Lost Soul. Not too many of them play the ol' mud whistle though so I've got that covered.  So I'm not sure what you mean about people not tasting all the flavours coz most of the shows I've been to seem pretty diverse!

11.  Would you have your stomach removed and replaced with a trampoline or your shoulder blades swapped for two donkey's nobs? Explain thy decision!

I'll go for the trampoline option. My little boy loves trampolines so there's no contest between that and donkey shlongs. Simple!

12.  Heroes and zeroes in life and music please? Also and finally push the pram of thy cause and make that inner baby squeal with a message we can't ignore!

My heroes in music would have to be those people that have just kept going from day one really. People like T.V. Smith, Arturo Basic, Charlie Harper. I went to a U.K. Subs gig years back and they were selling t-shirts that said "On Tour Forever" (wish I'd bought one now) Its those kinda people that really inspire me.

As far as zeros, all I can say is Dub Step doesn't do a lot for me. Or most kinds of dance music I guess. It just doesn't speak to me if that makes any sense?

As a final thought I'll leave you with this. I'm not the most worldly guy, and I ain't travelled the full length and breadth of this country doing this yet. But everywhere I have been, without exception  I've met the warmest people you can imagine! I feel like I've got brothers and sisters in so many towns and city's now, and it never ceases to amaze me at how this thing we call "Punk" unites us all as one big world wide family. UNITY!

 

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